Prevention and Early Intervention Services

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Toronto Preschool Speech and Language Services

This program is collaboratively managed in partnership with the City of Toronto, providing community-based speech and language services to children and their families before the children are eligible for senior kindergarten. The range of services includes assessment; consultation and support to parents and staff in child care settings; training for parents and professionals; and group or individual therapy. The services are provided by Speech and Language Pathologists, Communications Disorder Assistants or Early Childhood Educators. Please click here to read the Vision, Mission and Value Statements.

The George Hull Centre is the West Quadrant Local Coordinating Agency, overseeing the services in ten different sites.

Ontario Early Years Centre - Etobicoke Centre

The George Hull Ontario Early Years Centre offers free universal programming to the community, specifically for the birth to age six population and their parents/caregivers. Programs range from structured parent/caregiver education sessions to drop in programs for all to attend. Programs are offered six days a week, during traditional and non-traditional hours.

The services provided for children and parents/caregivers include:

• Early learning activities

• Parent resources and training

• Pre and post natal resources, support and information

• Information about links to other local early years services

• Outreach activities

• Program evaluation

• Volunteer coordination

• Tailored services to meet unique community needs

The Centre has formed strong links with the community and has a commitment to working with agencies and organizations across the riding to provide quality programs to our families.

Visit the Ontario Early Years website at www.ontarioearlyyears.ca

Specialized Children's Groups

Specialized Children’s Groups support the growth and development of children through high quality, stimulating and enriched small group programs. Many of these children are facing challenges in their lives that require extra supports from parents and professionals. These programs are structured to ensure that all children receive both group and individual experiences to help them to reach their potential. The Kindergarten Readiness Program is designed to meet the needs of children between the ages of 3.5 to 5 years who require extra supports before entering the school system. The Nursery School Program offers a structured, caring and nurturing group experience to young to young children between the ages of 18 months to 3 years who may be displaying developmental delays, anxiety separating from parents, and/or social difficulties in group settings.

Special Needs Resourcing

This service strives to enhance the skills of childcare professionals and families in support of the healthy development of children within child care settings. The two components to this service are: Special Needs Resource Consultation and Intensive Resource Support.

The Special Needs Resource Consultant works with children who attend licensed group care settings and home child care. Consultation may include observation and program plans for individual children; consultation on programming; system consultation with staff and parents; customized workshops for providers and parents; larger information sessions on specific topics geared towards working with children with special needs. There is also an updated library (books, videos, audiotapes and other resources) available to parents and child care professionals.

The Intensive Resource Support Worker is available to licensed child care programs to support the inclusion of children with complex and/or intensive developmental, social, emotional or behavioural needs. This support may include direct intervention with children, modeling strategies for staff, coaching staff through the use of new techniques, and providing encouragement and assistance to parents.

Etobicoke Brighter Futures Coalition

The Etobicoke Brighter Futures Coalition is a collaborative group of more than 40 community partners that work together to plan, develop and deliver services and programs that enhance the healthy development of children ages 0-6 considered to be at risk and to develop an integrated, seamless network of services for this population.

The Etobicoke Brighter Futures Coalition serves as the Community Advisory Network for three Ontario Early Years Centres and for Toronto Preschool Speech and Language Services in Etobicoke.

The programs and services provided by the Etobicoke Brighter Futures Coalition include:
·     Home Visiting
·     Parent Relief
·     Parenting Education Programs
·     Parent and Child Programs
·     School Readiness Programs

The Coalition program and services are made possible by the significant financial and in-kind support of our partner agencies. We are funded through the Community Action Program for Children (CAPC) of the Public Health Agency of Canada, the United Way of Greater Toronto, The Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the Toronto Heart Health Partnership.

The George Hull Centre is the coordinating agency for this coalition.

For more information, go to: www.ebfc.ca.

Highfield Community Enrichment Project

Background
The George Hull-Highfield Community Enrichment Project is one of eight Better Beginnings, Better Futures prevention demonstration projects in the province. The projects were created by the Ontario government in response to the 1983 Ontario Child Health Study on children’s mental health needs. The Study revealed that one in six children has an identifiable emotional or behavioural disorder and that children living in families that received social assistance or who lived in subsidized housing were at greater risk for these problems.

Communities were invited to apply to develop local prevention projects, targeting either 0-4 year olds or 4-8 year olds, that would address specific goals for the child, for the parent and family, and for the neighbourhood/community. The eight selected communities were announced in 1991.

The project includes a 25-year longitudinal research study, conducted by researchers from Queen's University and Wilfrid Laurier University, with with periodic findings within the longitudinal study

The School
The project is based at Highfield Junior School, which has an enrollment of about 1,000 students from JK to Grade 5, and up to 13 kindergarten classrooms! 90% of the children speak English as a second language. Common language groups are Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Urdu, Hindi, Somali and Eastern European languages. Recess is largely incident free, with no bullying or violence — which is remarkable given the huge number of children.

The Project Philosophy
The project adheres to the African saying that it takes a whole village to raise a child. The family, the school and the community have direct influence in the healthy development of children. Therefore, their involvement is critical. As an early prevention initiative, the project strives to offer integrated programs and services.

The project embraces the following beliefs and values in its operation:
• The child is central in the community.
• Prevention is better than treatment.
• We offer universally accessible programs within the limits of our resources
• We do not stigmatize.
• Collaborative partnerships are important to us.
• Parents need opportunities to grow personally and in their role as caregivers.
• We are strength-based.
• We embrace cultural diversity.
• Teamwork defines our success.
• We strive to be cost-effective in all that we do.

The Project
The George Hull-Highfield Community Enrichment Project project has three main components.

1. In-School Support includes work with all JK children and many SK children. A team of Enrichment Workers work with kindergarten teachers to provide extra support to children and their families, as needed. Other program components include a summer kindergarten preparatory program, family visiting, parenting workshops and a nutrition program. The nutrition program serves breakfast five days a week, lunch three days a week and a daily snack to every child in the school.

2. Family Support includes a Family Resource Centre that runs drop-in programs daily for children 0-4 and their caregivers. This is often the first link to the school for many families. Resources include preschool programming, a 'Family Fun Day,' a Mother Goose program, childcare for parents attending workshops, and a toy and book lending library. The Resource Centre also acts as a clearinghouse for other resources in the community.

3. Community Development: About 100 volunteers from the community are involved in all aspects of the project, including the Steering Committee that serves as an overall advisory body and an In-School Committee that reports on and sets direction for school-based programs. Community events, such as community breakfasts, a community fair, a volunteers' appreciation dinner, toy and food drives, and family movie nights are held each year.

The Research Results

After 5 years:

• The children showed a decrease in problem behaviours such as anxiety, depression and opposition, and an increase in positive behaviours, such as self-control and cooperativeness.

• The children and their parents showed improved health and well-being.

• Parents showed improved parenting practices.

• Parents experienced reduced stress and tension.

• Parents had a better relationship with the school.

• Parents experienced fewer health problems and led healthier lifestyles.

• The Highfield Community Enrichment Project neighbourhood became a safer place in which to live, compared to a neighbourhood with similar demographics, with fewer interventions by the police and child welfare since the project's inception.

• Although the research did not show higher rates of cognition, the results of the Grade 3 EQAO testing are dramatically up since the project began.

The research clearly demonstrates that these positive short-term results for children, parents and the community were sustained when measured at Grades 6, 9 and 12.

The latest cost-benefit analysis, based on the Grade 12 results, indicates a $2.50 return on every dollar invested by the government in the Highfield Community Enrichment Project, with the largest savings coming from reduced special education, social assistance and disability support costs.